Sexual Trash
Ephesians 5:3
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Last week we threw away the first piece of trash that we needed to get out of the way as we tossed pride in the trash can…today we are really going to start sifting through the mess…
Have three pieces of trash on the table beside the can…pick up the first one…
Pornography/Lust
1 John 2:16
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Explain Slide…
Jesus said…
Matthew 5:28
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Slide
Porn has taken over our society and, in my opinion, and the opinion it is the root of many of our societies downfalls…
Porn is the number one issue that I have found among the people that I counsel…it changes a persons mind much like a drug in fact once you click on an image or a video your brain releases epinephrine
PORNOGRPAHY IS ADDICTIVE! And just in case there are still out there a few stubborn hold-outs, research is currently being conducted by some of the world’s leading experts in the neuroscience and neuropsychology fields that will provide the clinical evidence required to officially enter sex and pornography as “addictions in the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
How big is the porn industry well there are 24.5 million pornographic sites on the web…with more than 23000 videos produced annually…in Hollywood alone the industry amassed over 13 billion dollars. In the USA alone there are over 17 million searches for porn on the internet…
It gets worse there are about 116000 daily searches for child pornography everyday…
When a child is exposed to porn it sets the addiction in place at an accelerated pace…they develop with this addiction engrained within their brain…
The average age that children are exposed to Porn is 11 and
1 out of 10 before age 10
Over 30000 people are watching porn at any given second…
35% of all downloads involve porn
As much as some may try and avoid porn, still over 20% of adults and over 80% of children get exposed to porn unintentionally
34% of internet users report unwanted exposure thru pop-up ads, misdirected links or emails
Its not just a man thing or those outside the church thing…64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women admit they watch porn at least once a month…
1 in 5 youth minister and 1 in 7 senior ministers admit to struggling with porn …
It’s a real problem and we cant just stick our little heads in the sand and say “if they were really Christians they wouldn’t do that”
What are the effects of being a porn addict…
Feelings of shame and guilt
Emptiness, loneliness, and depression
Creating an emotional attachment with an artificial world
Having troubled relationships
Divorce
Risk of unhealthy sexual engagement
Sex without intimacy
Legal and financial problems
We need to protect ourselves and our loved in any way we possibly can and there are ways to try and avoid as much ass possible…filters and apps that you can put on your computers, tablets, and yes even your smartphones…
Just a few are mSpy, Covenant Eyes, and the one that my family uses is Net Nanny…
Job 31:1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.”
As Christians we are to pursue a pure life and that means making a covenant with God and our eyes as to what we allow in…
That leads to our next piece of trash
Adultery
In the Bible, adultery generally refers to voluntary sexual relations by a married person—either a man or a woman—with someone other than his or her spouse. (Job 24:15; Proverbs 30:20) Adultery is a detestable thing in God’s eyes. In ancient Israel the penalty for it was death.
In our society it is much more acceptable but yet we still are a society where for the most part we still try and hide it…people sneak around until they are caught so there are two responses that date way back and are common today…
Job 24:15 (NIV)
The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he keeps his face concealed.
And then after they are caught, they shift in this direction
Proverbs 30:20 (NIV)
“This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
Within the church adultery is running amuck…
20% of all men and 13% of all women are involved sexually with someone other than their spouse…
I am going to really surprise you here…the younger generations like the millennials are not the top of the list when it comes to cheaters…
Americans born in the 1940s and 1950s reported the highest rates of extramarital sex
Cheating has a huge effect on marriage and marriage is so important to God…we enter into a covenant with each other and God when we stand before people and pledge ourselves to each other…
God did not intent to institute divorce in fact Jesus says in
Matthew 19:8 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.
God does not promote divorce and I don’t have to even tell you that…but let me remind you
Malachi 2:16
“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Your changes of remaining married after adultery are not good…
Silde your 23% more likely to have a failed marriage due to adultery than those who have remained faithful
The last thing I want to address runs in a progression from pornography to adultery to
Sexual Abuse
Now this is not a pretty subject but again we cannot come in here with all the terrible injustice that goes on to women and men and girls and boys…pretending that all is well and this is not something that happens…
Truth is there are likely many many people sitting in here that have experienced some form of sexual abuse…and to those of you I want to say I am Sorry for your pain…
The purpose of this subject is to raise awareness to the problem and to hopefully get some help and prevent more of it from happening…
Slide one 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys
Slide two
Slide three
Jesus says,
Matthew 18:6
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
When Jesus says little ones I like to think of myself as a child of God so that applies to all of us….
There are major consequences to this problem
Academic problems…
The risk of teen pregnancy is much higher for girls and boys with a history of child sexual abuse
Those that have been abused are more likely to have criminal lifestyles
Emotional and mental health problems are very common they suffer from PTSD and often turn to substance abuse to deal with the pain associated with being sexually abused…
Today we have taken a hard look at some of the nastiest dirtiest trash that we can find on our front porches…
But RC Sproul said Slide the gospel is only good news when we understand the bad news.
That is so true…
The only way to truly change our societies unsatisfiable appetite for sexual sin is to introduce Jesus one person at a time…
Last Slide
No matter what kind of trash and dirt you bring before our LORD JESUS he is forgiving and willing to help you clean it up…but you have to choose to ask for his blood to wash you clean…
Its time for God’s people, those of us that call ourselves Christians, to clean our porches of this sexual trash so that we can help others clean their porches…not only for eternity, but so that life here on earth can filled with a life of joy knowing that they didn’t have to continue to live that way…
I hope that everyone will grab a broom and let’s rid this world of this trash
